Below, you will find an extensive list of options that I have researched myself for feeding your dog or puppy healthy, less processed, foods providing overall greater health and longevity.
We have personally fed every food listed below, so we have first-hand knowledge of the quality, price, and convenience of each.
I currently feed my dogs a homemade raw diet I calculated through research for each of my dogs and their specific needs.
We have put together a list of videos from several qualified raw feeding specialists to help you educate yourself about the benefits of feeding a raw diet, and dispelling some of the myths circulating about the dangers of feeding a raw diet on our YouTube channel here.
You can have a professional calculate and create a balanced raw diet for your dog's specific needs and take the guess work out for you. I love this website (and his YouTube channel) for this kind of one on one support.
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If you prefer pre-made raw meals to simplify your raw feeding, then keep reading. I've done the research for you.
After months of research and interviews from canine nutritionists, we've decided that the healthiest, most convenient, affordable, and as close to a complete and balanced diet for our dogs as possible are the following:
HOMEMADE RAW
You can feed your own dog or puppy 12 weeks and older with this easy to follow, and inexpensive raw recipe you can prepare at home, here is an easy step by step 3 minute video detailing exactly how.
🏆OUR #1 PICK🏆
DARWIN'S NATURAL PET FOOD
Unequivocally, our favorite pre-made, prepackaged raw food for dogs!
Perfectly portioned packages with clean easy wrapping.
AN OUTSTANDING BIOLOGICALLY APPROPRIATE DOG FOOD!
However, it is the most expensive of all prepackaged raw dog foods. Its pricing is reflected by the quality.
RAW PAWS PET FOOD
*Raw Paws has a wide variety of freeze dried that I think are excellent options.
A BETTER TREAT
**This company has a wonderful selection of great raw, clean fresh treats, without question the best commercial treats available!
K9 KRAVINGS
***We've added this product because one of our puppy families has been feeding it to their Shadymist puppy, Brianna, since she was a puppy, 9 years ago. 😍
**NEVER EVER feed your dog COOKED BONES of any kind from any animal! Cooked bones are brittle and splinter and can cause tooth cracking, choking, or intestinal tears causing death.
NO BONES (OR BONE TREATS) ABOUT IT:
FDA Reasons Not to Give Your Dog [cooked] Bones
This warning is for ALL COOKED bones, regardless of source or size. Raw small animal bones are perfectly safe and necessary for a balanced raw diet.
What bones are safe? Here's a good article, written by vets to guide you to the safest raw bones and why they need them.
RAW DOG FOOD DAILY CALORIC REQUIREMENT CALCULATOR
Click HERE to go to a raw food calorie calculator to determine how many calories your dog or puppy needs daily based on target adult weight, activity level, and hormones (intact vs spay/neutered).
**I cannot recommend any dry kibble, including the dog food on A Better Treat, because it includes meat meal and pea protein, both of which are harmful. So if you're trying improve your dog’s overall health and longevity, no kibble is good for dogs. No exception. Some are just more dangerous than others. However, I wanted to include this site because their treats are outstanding!
Click here or on the above image to watch a short video explaining why certain foods, like dry kibble, peas protein, and meat meal are causing so many problems with our dogs' health and longevity. Mariah has it all worked out and makes it easy to understand and easier to determine what foods are good or harmful for your dog.
***Although we have not ordered or fed K9 Cravings Raw, we have a couple puppy families that swear by it!
In addition to raw, we also recommend fresh instead of dry kibble from any/all of the following vendors, listed in order of preference:
When i start puppies on mush and until they go home with their families, I am feeding
And I recommend keeping your puppy on the same until you're ready to switch to a raw or fresh diet from one of the options above at 12 weeks old. It is absolutely the best available and most appropriate processed kibble for your puppy and dog if you're not able or interested in feeding raw or fresh.
We are currently feeding our own homemade PREY MODEL RAW (PMR) to our own dogs, except for our oldest girl, 14 year old Grace. We only feed her OLLIE pre-packaged fresh.
If you want to feed a raw diet, but can't afford Darwin, and don't feel comfortable calculating a raw diet for your dogs, we recommend BJs Raw Pet Food. You can click on the link above, it takes you to their site. We appreciate it if you could use my referral code "9120." It doesn't effect your pricing or any discounts or any sales they're running. Instead, it simply gives us credit for referring you.
So when you purchase from BJ's Raw Pet Food website, or enter our code (9120) when ordering directly from their site. Your purchase using our code goes towards helping us support our dogs, and help you keep your own adult puppies living long healthy lives. ❤️
This holds true for several of the links above. You DO NOT pay more, or forfeit any discounts or active clearances or sales by using our affiliate links, they simply gives us credit for the referrals and that adds up to meals for my own dogs (pennies at a time in most cases), eventually. 😉
Please know that we appreciate your willingness to use our affiliate links, or referral codes.